THE CARE OF WIDOWS (I TIMOTHY 5)

In this passage, Paul instructs Timothy on the duties of Christians and the Church in regard to widows within the body. But his teachings are not as clear-cut to us as we would perhaps prefer. For one thing, he appears to refer to a great number of types of widows including: “real” widows (mentioned in verses 3,5,16a and 16b), widows with and without relatives, old and young widows, widows who live for pleasure, widows who are devoted to good works, idle widows, and widows who are or aren't to be “put on the list.” In addition, there appear to be two conclusions to his words (verses 7-8 and 21), and the whole discussion follows, and is followed by, some words of caution regarding our attitudes toward other classes of people within the church.

All of these issues can be cleared up a great deal when one looks at how Paul has structured his whole presentation in this chapter. But to do this, we need to keep in mind that the Bible as a whole and in its individual books and sections is not written in the sort of chronological and logical order that we expect. Instead, almost all Scripture is designed around the concepts of repetition and symmetry. To illustrate this point and demonstrate the great value of looking for the method of organization employed by the authors when reading any passage in the Bible, below is a proposed structure for I Timothy 5.

The Literary Structure of I Timothy 5:1-22

A. Proper dealing with those within the Christian family (vv. 1-2)

    B. Treatment of widows (vv. 3-8)

        1. Real widows (v. 3)

            2. Support by relatives (vv. 4-5)

                3. Pleasure-seeking widows (v. 6)

                    C. Conclusion (vv. 7-8)

                        D. Widows to be enrolled on the list (vv. 9-10)

                        D'. Widows to be excluded from the list (vv. 11-12)

B'. Treatment of widows (vv. 14-16)

                3'. Younger widows (vv. 14-15)

            2'. Support by relatives (v. 16a)

    1'. Real widows (v. 16b)

A'. Proper dealing with those within the Christian family (vv. 17-20)

                    C'. Conclusion (v. 21)

If this is a true representation of the structure of this passage, then we can see, first of all, that the two conclusions are indeed placed in appropriate spots to summarize the large opening and closing sections revolving around the appropriate treatment of “real widows.” Looking at various translations of that phrase, one can see that many of them are slight variations such as “widows who are such in the full sense” (NEB), “widows indeed” (KJV, NASB), and “truly widows” (JB). Of course, none of those really gives us any more information.

Other versions make an attempt to define the designation “real widow” a little more closely with wording such as “who are really alone in the world (Phillips), “who is all alone with no one to take care of her” (TEV, Living Bible), “who are really in need” (NIV), and “who are destitute” (The Message). Although all of these renderings agree agree as to meaning intended here, one can obtain from the context an additional criterion necessarily in place before the church body should support a widow. Thus, in B3 and B'3' above, another class of widows is described in stark contrast to the “real” widows: those who live for pleasure, follow sensuous desires, are idle, and go around spreading gossip. Such widows do not need to be supported by the church.

Then we come to the very center of the chapter in which the question revolves around which widows are to be enrolled in “the list.” At this point, commentators are divided as to whether “the list” designates (1) those who are or are not to be financially supported by the church or (2) those who are, in addition to being supported, also to have an official or semi-official status within the congregation. If the former is the case, then the criteria given in verses 9-10 are in addition to the requirement of financial need for “real” widows given in sections B and B'.

But the way in which the overall structure of this passage sets apart the verses designated as D-D' seems to indicate that a special class of “real” widows is being described who are well recognized for their spiritual qualities and therefore to be set apart for special service within the congregation. In fact, they may possibly be identical to the “female deacons” or “deaconesses” mentioned elsewhere within the Pastoral Epistles.

Finally, from the figure above one can see that the discussion of widows in the congregation is capped on both ends (sections A and A') with a more general statement covering a Christian's attitude and treatment of all members of the congregation. The parallel nature of these two book-ending sections is seen by repetition of the words “elder/older man” and “pure/purity.”

When attempting to follow the scriptural pattern set down in the NT, we must keep in mind that Paul was dealing with a particular time and culture that is quite different in many ways from today. For example, there were no government programs or para-church organizations to help the needy. In addition, the Christian congregations at the time were probably widely separated from one another geographically unlike today's situation when some towns seem to have a church on practically every block. So the logistics of support for the needy are quite different in many ways.

However, none of that should be used as an excuse for ignoring the immediate physical needs of those in our own congregations and in our communities in general. In addition, the overall admonition for relatives to take care of those in in their own family still stands today. We must keep in mind Jesus' harsh words directed toward those religious leaders who made a grand show of giving money to the temple while using that as an excuse to ignore their own needy parents. And the command to honor one's father and mother can rightly be extended to others within our earthly family who need our help.